7th Belarusian People's Congress. Day 2

The second session of the 7th Belarusian People's Congress, led by Belarusian President and Chairman of the Belarusian People's Congress Aleksandr Lukashenko, took placeon 19 December.

The main item on the agenda for the second day of the Belarusian People's Congress session was the consideration of Belarus' social and economic development program for 2026-2030.

Aleksandr Lukashenko explained that before the session of the Belarusian People's Congress he had been presented with two draft versions of the program. In the second draft it was written that the program could be adjusted along the way. However, Deputy Chairman of the Congress Aleksandr Kosinets strongly opposed this provision, and the Belarusian leader supported his position.

"Once the Congress has adopted the program, it is law. The program is law. Not a single dot, letter, or comma should be changed," the President emphasized.

According to him, officials have been assigned to each area of the program. "The law must be carried out. If you fail to do so, you are accountable," the head of state noted.

Addressing the delegates, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that all of them had the opportunity in advance to study and work through the draft program. "I understand that among the delegates there are many people who are facing such issues for the first time. But being a delegate is a difficult task. At times it requires not only dealing with arithmetic but also delving into certain economic problems. Yet we are delegates. There is no way around it. That is the essence of our work," he said.

The head of state emphasized the need to capitalize on existing strengths and expertise to develop current economic and social sectors further, instead of creating new strategies from scratch. "We have established strengths in specific fields. These were once neglected assets, unnoticed abroad. Today, this has changed. Our fraternal partner Russia (effectively our common market) and others now recognize the great schools, specialists, and competencies that we developed in the Soviet period. The question is not what to invent, but what to build upon. Take agriculture: the demand is clear and present. Therefore, we must develop it," the President said.

A similar approach is being applied in the social sphere, including education and healthcare. "We all used to lament: 'We need to build this, we need hospitals, polyclinics…' We will build them, from first-aid stations to national research and treatment centers. But we never considered making money from this like the West does. And eventually we started making money," Aleksandr Lukashenko continued.

"We trained everyone, and we were proud of it. But we also realized that money can be made from education, too," the head of state added, noting that the country earns over $100 million annually from exporting educational services.

"That is, we need to make money from everything, especially if there is demand for what we do," the President concluded.

The head of state provided another example concerning the agricultural sector. Presently, many nations, including those in Africa and Asia, are highly focused on food security and are ready to pay for Belarusian machinery and technology. "We possess not only the technology, expertise, and personnel but also the equipment for that. So what is there to reinvent? Our task is to deepen and expand our existing strengths," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

This imperative will drive the continued mechanization and robotization of the agro-industrial complex. "It is essential for us, and we will accomplish this next year, to produce our own robotic milking system," Aleksandr Lukashenko emphasized.

Speaking about the future of the country's agriculture, the head of state highlighted the achievement of a session participant, Pavel Shutilo, a combine harvester operator at the Kukhchitsy enterprise, who set a national record by threshing 8,000 tonnes of grain this harvest. Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that during his own time as the head of an agricultural enterprise, the total harvest was approximately 3,000-4,000 tonnes. And here one man threshed 8,000 tonnes!

"This guy is a hero. He threshed over 8,000 tonnes!" the President remarked. The entire hall gave the operator a round of applause for his accomplishment.

The head of state emphasized that Pavel Shutilo and other specialists like him are heroic individuals. However, their achievement was made possible in large part by the advances in agricultural mechanization built on domestic manufacturing and equipment, including Belarus-made grain harvesters.

During the conference, Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke about the prospects of aircraft manufacturing in Belarus.

"I insist that new industries are also needed. If a nation wants to develop, it must not only deepen production in areas where we already have expertise, but also create new ones," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

The President touched upon the aircraft manufacturing: "We know how to do certain things, because for centuries, one might say, we have carried out aircraft repairs, both civilian and military."

He noted that at one time a decision was made to relocate the civil aviation plant from Minsk to the territory of Minsk National Airport. "We moved this aircraft repair enterprise. That was the first stage. Today we are ready to expand it. It has proven useful. Specialists from Russia, where aircraft manufacturing is at a high level, visited it and were astonished. They said: 'You [in Belarus] have specialists, excellent facilities. You need very little more to start producing aircraft'," the head of state added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko also drew attention to the aviation repair plant in Baranovichi, where repairs were carried out and "some parts" for military aircraft were produced. "I said: 'Let's take these two plants and build our own aircraft together with the Russians'. No country, not even China or the United States, probably, builds aircraft alone," the Belarusian leader remarked.

He added that Russia lacks medium-range and small aircraft, which are in demand by the hundreds and thousands. "We repaired military and civilian aircraft. Let's start building these aircraft now," he emphasized.